Buy Local, Save Big

Summer ends with a bang-up, blow-out sale.

By Carol Tisch

This week, in the brutal heat of summer with few vacationers in town, snowbirds gone and the whole country worrying about a recession, 12 of the city’s most exciting boutiques have banded together to generate some buzz—and drum up some business. For the first time ever, these high-quality local stores will hold a four-day Pop Up Store Sale together under one roof at the up-for-lease space at 556 S. Pineapple Ave. (the former home of Allyn Gallup’s gallery next door to L. Kids).

With everything going for 50 to 70 percent off, the sale is an opportunity to pick up amazing bargains on great designer labels. But the event has also been conceived as a marketing device to introduce shoppers to their local independent retailers—a mini version of the “I’m an Original” local restaurant campaign. Most of the boutique owners will be manning their spaces, which were marked off with painter’s tape the day I stopped by the 2,056-foot gallery. They’ll team up to create window displays, a make-shift fitting room, and to convince you that you don’t have to leave town to buy great fashion.

Wendy Getchell of Lotus, LeeAnne Swor of L. Boutique and Kelly Augustyniak of Kelietz will participate in this weekend's 12-boutique sale.

The stores are all top-notch: L. Boutique, Lotus, Kelietza, IOptics, Jane Boutique, Willow 506, Foxy Lady, The Met, Stitch Boutique, T. Georgianos shoes and Denise Kowal Jewelry. And even though Beau Monde has closed its doors on State Street, they’ll display at the sale, too. Designer names read like a Who’s Who compiled from fashion magazines, with everything from clothes and shoes to gifts, including Betsy Johnson, Velvet, Cynthia Steffe, Taka, Alvin Valley, True Religion, Frankie B and Ed Hardy—just to name a few.

“We’ve created a shopping destination to introduce what our stores have to offer and why you should shop local,” explains Wendy Getchell of Lotus. “It’s our own version of a trunk sale and a great way to see each store’s own look and personality through their clothes,” says L Boutique owner LeeAnne Swor. “We want to prove there’s no need to go to Tampa, Naples or up North to shop,” adds Kelly Augustyniak of Kelietza.

And that really hits home. Much has been written about positive buying, ethical consumerism, locavores, to name a few of the newest retail buzzwords. Entries on Wikipedia talk about shopping—moral shopping— like this: “Some [economists] argue that ‘Shopping is more important than voting,’ and that the disposition of money is the most basic role we play in any system of economics. Some theorists believe that it is the clearest way that we express our actual moral choices.”

All the talk usually focuses on food purchases, sustainable products and moral labor practices. But in Sarasota, this Band of Retail Brothers is showing us that ethical consumers also need to think about the impact our purchases make on local business owners’ lives and therefore on the livelihood of Sarasota’s economy. So go grab some bargains, have fun, and do your part for our city’s retail future.

Sale Schedule:

Thursday, Aug. 28, through Saturday, Aug. 30, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, Aug. 31, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Location: 556 S. Pineapple Ave., at the corner of Pineapple and Orange. Don’t be put off by the construction; there’s plenty of parking nearby.

Contact number: 906-1350. Cash or check; all sales final.

Kristen Wickstrand, owner of Willow 506, models a sampling of the tops, jeans and shoes that will be in her store's booth at the Pop-Up Sale.

Posted: 8/26/2008 2:43:57 PM | 0 comments